FIU vs NYMC

[slamdawgmillionaire]

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Hi everyone, please help. I've had an acceptance from FIU for a while now, but just got off the waitlist at NYMC today and only have 5 days to decide! I'm very torn right now, but currently leaning towards sticking with FIU mainly because I enjoyed my experience there a lot more (but it was only 1 day...). I know this is rare but money is not a factor at all - both are equivalently very expensive (i'll be OOS at FIU) so cost is a wash. I don't have a specific specialty in mind yet but I want to keep my options open as much as possible since I don't think primary care is for me. Anyway, here's the skinny:

FIU
Pros

• Location part 1: I’ve spent my whole life in the northeast and I’m kinda itching for something different. Miami is definitely different and could be a lot of fun. It’s a big and diverse city so studying medicine here should provide a ton of different experiences.

• Class size: 120 students seems like the goldilocks of class sizes – not so small you feel trapped, but not so big you get lost.

• Community vibe: I had a fantastic experience with everyone I met during my interview and felt right at home.

• Step scores/step after 3rd year: step scores are amazing and taking step after 3rd year really appeals to me.

Cons

• Newly Established: FIU has not been around for long and from my SDN research definitely has some growing pains. Not sure how big a deal this is?

• Location part 2: Miami traffic is terrible and parking on-campus is not great. Housing market is tough. I also don’t see myself living in FL permanently, so I’m worried that going to school here could limit options for residency locations?

• No “Home” Hospital: definitely doesn’t seem ideal to have to jump around for all of my rotations, and the lack of a large academic center could be pretty limiting. At the same time, I’ve heard that because rotations are smaller and you aren’t competing with residents to learn there is a lot of opportunity for hands-on experiences during clinicals so there could be upsides too.

• Limited research opportunities

NYMC
Pros

• Well Established: NYMC is by no means a top-tier school, but they have been around for a long time and seem to have a pretty good reputation. I don’t know if going here would open more doors for me than FIU but it seems like it could? If anyone could weigh in on this that would be nice.

• “Home” Hospital On-Campus

• Campus is right across the street from housing = no long commutes

• More research opportunities (I think)

Cons

• Location: I really don’t want to live in Westchester…. It’s isolated and boring. NYC is not my favorite place either. I have also lived in the northeast for my entire life and the prospect of going somewhere new (which would be Miami) for the next four years is exciting.

• Housing: The on-campus housing is cramped and dingy and is a huge turn-off. Doesn’t seem like there’s anywhere good to live off-campus either.

• Class size: Huge class size (~200)

• Meh Interview Day Experience: I interviewed on a rainy day with terrible weather so I don’t really know how representative my experience was, but I thought that most of the current students I met seemed pretty apathetic and unenthusiastic about their life at NYMC. A bunch of the students we were supposed to eat lunch with just didn’t show up. The food was awful too. I was definitely missing the community vibe I got at FIU (and Dartmouth, which was my only other interview and I’m currently still waitlisted).

Any thoughts???
Thanks so much for your help!
SDawg

 

[watermelon master]

Your con list for NYMC sounds like you would be unhappy there.

 

[IMakedThese]

You already know the answer. Don't confuse yourself by making the decision harder. Have fun in South Beach!

 

[slamdawgmillionaire]

Thank you both - you're definitely right. Going to talk it through with my family etc, but I'm pretty sure I'll be sticking with FIU! Even just writing out this pro and con list helped me realize I was really struggling to think of things I liked more about NYMC. I think I just want to make sure I'm not missing any measurable advantages NYMC could have in the long run, but from what I can tell they are in the same tier and I really can't go wrong with either.

I definitely have hesitations about moving to Miami too (when I was initially applying Florida was about the last place I wanted to end up... not a big humidity person haha might be the only one who thinks the weather is a downside), but I liked FIU enough to get excited about it so here we are. This process has been a trip... Thanks for helping me see the light!